Healthy 12-year-old contracts flesh eating bacteria, loses leg

DETROIT (WJBK) - A healthy 12-year-old boy becomes suddenly ill after contracting a flesh eating bacteria and now doctors are trying to save his life.

It has been a nightmare for the parents of Dakarai Moore, Jr. They say he has always been healthy, and then this mysterious bacteria seemed to come out of nowhere.

WEB UPDATE (Aug. 24): The family has set up a GoFundMe page. CLICK HERE to donate.

Dakarai loves sports like baseball and football, and was very active until one week ago Thursday.

"My son was complaining just saying his legs were hurting," said Charmaine Norman, his mother. "There was a really tight feeling and his knees were kind of puffy."

Dakarai also had a fever and was developing a greenish-colored rash on the bottom of his feet. That's when his mother rushed him to Detroit Children's Hospital of Michigan.

"The next thing I know, like 15 doctors came in," she said.

Together Dakarai's parents watched the bacteria eat away at his body, working its way up the legs to his torso. Days later, they say he was diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis, commonly known as flesh eating disease - something rarely found in children.

"It's just crazy how one day your child is like this then the next day, this happens," she said.

Most of Dakarai's left leg could not be saved.

"That's the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life today," said his father Dakarai, "sign the papers to get his left leg amputated."

The bacteria is almost impossible to trace and can be contracted from the most minor of cuts. Dakarai's parents have no idea how he got it. They are sharing the story now, hoping to educate others.

"We had no understanding about it," Dakarai Sr. said. "If you ask all the questions in the world, and 50 doctors can't tell you anything for more than a week, we need more people to know about this."

They say the soon to be seventh grader, is somehow, keeping in good spirits. He's staying strong, and hasn't shed a tear.

"Please keep my son in your prayers," Norman said. "He's a strong kid."

Dakarai's family says doctors are confident they have slowed down, and possibly stopped the bacteria from spreading any further, but the battle is not over.